ARRAH (BIHAR), February 16: The landed gentry of Bilhaur village situated by the side of River Sone where the dreaded Ranvir Sena was founded a few years ago has decided to vote en bloc for the Bharatiya Janata Party. But in the adjoining Chakaradarpur hamlet, considered the stronghold of the CPIML, the residents are fiercely anti-BJP irrespective of their caste.Curiously there is no BJP candidate in Arrah Lok Sabha constituency in which both villages fall and the Samata Party, its alliance partner, is contesting the seat. Its candidate Haridwar Singh is the person loved and hated by these villagers who have been up in arms against each other for the last four years.The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist or `Male', as it is popularly known), struck roots in the area in the early seventies. It took up the cause of the downtrodden and the underprivileged irrespective of caste in an area where upper caste landlords, in blatant defiance of the land ceiling laws, continue to possess holdings rangingfrom 100 to 150 acres of wet land. The ceiling law permits them to hold up to fifteen standard acres. The birth of the Ranvir Sena in 1994 is seen as a movement to counter the influence of the Male.As the presidents of both the villages were preparing for today's elections, a lengthy statement from the Ranvir Sena appeared in the local daily Prabhat. The statement issued purportedly by one Shamsher Bahadur calls upon Sena followers to vote for former union minister Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav (Bihar Jan Congress). But this caused no confusion among the villagers of either Bilhapur or Chakradarpur who have decided to vote en bloc for their ``saviours'' - H P Singh of the Samata Party and Krishna Deo Yadav of the CPIML respectively.CPIML district secretary of Arrah, Shyam Chandra Choudry, claimed that the Prabhat statement of the Ranvir Sena though attributed to Shamsher Bahadur was issued by Parameshwar Singh, the local BJP leader. The idea of asking its followers to vote for Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav is aclever ploy to divide the Yadav votes who are planning to vote en bloc for RJD candidate and former union ministers Chandra Dev Prasad Verma and help the Samata Party candidate to win.Kanniya Prasad Kesri fled the Manej hamlet because the Bhumihars wouldn't allow voting in favour of the Male. According to him the Bhumihars of the area had threatened penal action if anyone voted for the CPIML candidate. He took refuge at Chakradarpur and will go back to his house only after the elections.
